Question:
MY DOC SAID AT 4 AND HALF MONTHS ITS OVER???

I WENT AND SEEN MY SURGEN YESTERDAY IM FOUR AND HALF MONTHS POST OP DOWN 80LBS HE TOLD ME NOT TO EXPECT TO LOSE MUCH MORE WIEGHT SINCE I HAVE BEEN ON A PLATAEU FOR ABOUT 5 WEEKS AND THAT IM GETTING HUNGRY AGAIN. IS THAT TRUE, I KNEW IT SLOWED DOWN ALOT AFTER HONEYMOON PERIOD , HE DID SAY I MAY LOOSE A LITTLE MORE BUT ONLY A FEW AND AT THIS POINT I WOULD HAVE TO DIET AND WORK AT LOSING MORE WIEGHT, HECK I HAVENT WORKED OUT AT ALL SINCE SURGERY I WAS SICK ALL THE TIME. I THOUGHT I WOULD JUST KEEP EATING THE WAY IM SUPPOSED TO HEALTHY AND THE WIEGHT WOULD JUST COME OFF ALOT SLOWER. FOR UP TO A YR. SO WHATS UP I KNOW THINGS CHANGE AFTER SO MANY MONTHS, BUT TO DRASTIC THAT I WOULDNT LOSE BUT ANOTHER 5 OR 10 LBS WAS HIS COMMENT. AND I WOULD HAVE TO WORK HARD, TO LOSE THE REST. I KNOW THIS IS A TOOL AND AFTERHONEYMOON PERIOD IS OVER ITS WORK AND WATCHING MY, DIET MORE EXTENSIVELY. THANKS AHEAD OF TIME FOR YOUR COMMENTS ANGIE MATHEWS    — ANGIE M. (posted on October 5, 2002)

October 5, 2002
Hi Angie! Don't worry about your Doctor's comments. Everyone's experience with weight loss surgery is a bit different. You can gage your potential loss by your starting weight. If you started out like me - 5 foot 9 inches and 385 pounds - you will lose alot - rather quickly. I have had plateaus too. At 8 months post op I have lost 150 pounds. If you started out with only 100 pounds to lose - then you will usually lose less weight and a bit slower. The doctor may be concerned that you are relying on the surgery to lose weight instead of using it as a tool and changing your habits and old eating behaviors. You need to develop a new relationship with food - different than the one you had before surgery. Consider WHY you eat - THINK about food before you eat it - are you REALLY hungry or are you using food to comfort you? Your journey has just begun, go easy on yourself and be patient... Best wishes!
   — Michele W.

October 5, 2002
Hi Angie, I saw at yuor profile you are at 174...lost 80 lbs so you started about 254..I do not know your height, but I was 5'3 278 and have lost 102lbs and am at 175 lbs now..I loose SSSLLLOOOWWW! I actually lost to 175, then gained to 177..180...178..177..176 this a.m. Seems my body fights for every pound it looses then plays around for a week or longer then goes back to that weight...At my last appt. my doctor said I probably won't get lower that 160-170 lbs....Since I have not exercised or got my water in consistantly yet, I figure I can get that going and keep the WL moving along..maybe at a snails pace, but it will keep going. Sometimes the surgeons do not have all the answers, I am surprises he did not inquire more about the long plataeu rather than dismiss it as the end of your WL. My Surgeon and most I have heard hear say the Honeymoon period is usually 6 months..to a year and we should continue to loose(at whatever rate) for 18 months to 2 years. If you think you have a SLD, get it checked. otherwise try to start getting in some exercise, water, protien and I bet you get the scale moving again!
   — Patricia R.

October 5, 2002
Ask your surgeon why he thinks that at 4.5 months you are almost done, when all the evidence out there supports a weight loss for a year or more? You started around what I started at and at 8 months post-op, I have lost weight every month so far, more so in the beginning and alot less so these past few months. I certainly expect to lose more weight, altho slower for the next several months. I think you will too...plateaus happen. Drink more water, eat more protein and EXERCISE. I will tell you, if you exercise, it really helps to keep the scale moving down.
   — Cindy R.

October 5, 2002
Angie, your weightloss certainly is not over at 4.5 months. The window of opportunity is 18 months-2 years. Everyone reachs a plateau from time to time. The best thing to do is keep getting in your protein, supplements, water and start at least walking every day. Walking has really helped me to lose and isn't as strenuous as "working out". I am 14 months out and my surgeon thinks I might be at the end of my time too as I have been on a plateau for the past 4 months (now THAT is a plateau!). I am determined however to prove him wrong!!;)
   — LLinderman

October 6, 2002
I am eleven months out. My weight loss of 127 pounds since surgery has been spread out all along the way with many plateaus. After four months, no one will lose huge amounts in one single month, but you will still lose!
   — Julie S.